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spiritual reflection
OPPORTUNITIES
for
CONTEMPLATIVE
PRAYER AND PRACTICE
at
THE CATHEDRAL
of
ST. LUKE
“All of
us are meant to be contemplatives. Frequently we assume that this is
reserved for some rare monastic life, lived by special people who
alone have been called by God. But the truth of the matter is that
each one of us is meant to have that space inside where we can hear
God’s voice. God is available to all of us. God says, ‘Be still and
know that I am God.’ Each one of us wants and needs to give ourselves
space for quiet. We can hear God’s voice most clearly when we are
quiet, and then you begin to see with the eyes of the heart.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
God Has a Dream, A Vision of Hope for Our Time
CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
WEEKLY PRACTICE
The
Chapter Room at St. Luke’s
5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Leader: The Rev. Cam Borton
We will
begin with a brief teaching from the church’s rich tradition of
contemplative prayer, and with complementary readings from other faith
traditions followed by 25 minutes of silent prayer. There will be
time at the end for questions, shared insights, and mutual
encouragement.
“For
some reason there is a great interest in contemplation these days…I
suspect that we have come to a ‘limit experience’ as a species, and we
know that somehow we need to break out and break through our limited
ways of knowing…Our identity is largely lodged in our cerebral
thinking mode, and it has become our tomb. Contemplation, by whatever
name you call it, has always been the way out of that tomb, and into a
larger knowing that we Christians might call ‘the mind of Christ’ and
others might call enlightenment.”
Fr.
Richard Rohr, O. F. M.
Center for Action and Contemplation
GROUP SPIRITUAL REFLECTION
Group
Spiritual Reflection is a form of companionship with awareness of the
presence of God. People meet regularly to share their faith journey
and support one another in their desire to recognize and experience
God in all of life. They do this through silence, deep listening and
prayerful sharing.
The
focus of this group is not the group. It is the desire for God. The
group process support’s one’s on-going spiritual practice and
intention to deepen one’s relationship with God. “The practice itself
is at heart a prayer practice. Prayer is the willingness to open
oneself up to a sense of deeper reality.” (Anne Kline)
In
order to nurture an atmosphere of trust and reverence, several
elements are essential:
listening with the ears of the heart
self-revelation
mutuality
confidentiality
commitment
For
further information, contact Marby Payson at 781-4769 or at
marbypayson@hotmail.com
TAIZÉ SERVICES
at
ST. LUKE’S
The
Cathedral of St. Luke hold an ecumenical Taize service in Emmanuel
Chapel once a month, at 5:30 pm on the first Wednesday of each month
except for July and August.
Taizé,
a Protestant monastic community in Taizé, France, formed after World
War II, is dedicated to reconciliation between separated people and to
fostering unity within the church.
The
Service is composed of candlelight, icons, short readings, intervals
of silence and contemplative chants.
Brother
Roger, the former Prior of the Taize Community wrote, “Song is one of
the most essential elements of worship. Short chants repeated again
and again, give it a contemplative character. Using just a few words,
they express a basic reality of faith, quickly grasped by the mind.
As the words are sung over many times, this reality gradually
penetrates the whole being. And these simple songs then enable us to
keep on praying when we are alone, bu night and day, sometimes in the
silence of our hearts when we are at work.”
“MEDITATION (contemplation)
is the perennial wisdom
that appears in all ages
and all traditions
leading us away
from egoism
and its limitations
into
LOVE”
Fr.
John Maine O. S. B.
World Community
For Christian Meditation
FURTHER OPPORTUNITIES
COULD INCLUDE
Quiet
Days
Weekend
Retreats
Individual Spiritual Direction
Journal
Keeping
As a Spiritual Practice
* * * *
For
further information contact:
Marby
Payson 781-4769 (marbypayson@hotmail.com)
Joan
Borton 773-4377 (cjborton@prodigy.net)
The
Rev. Cam Borton 773-4377 (cjborton@prodigy.net)
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